UK Council Approves Fracking for Well
North Yorkshire County Council has granted permission for Third Energy to use hydraulic fracturing (fracking) as part of a shale gas production operation, the only such approval in the UK. The application was for a site near Kirby Misperton, which has long been used for gas production.
But it will be a long time before anything actually happens on site, the company said after receiving the news late on May 23, and there are no guarantees that the well, when fracked, will even be commercial.
The council stressed that it was a “single decision on a single site” and did not set a precedent for any other applications. It also made the point that “local councils are required to work within the national policy framework that indigenous oil and gas remain key to energy security while facilitating the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions.” But it said councils also needed to consider the need for economic growth and development that will provide jobs and sustainable communities.
It said the planning committee was “satisfied that in this particular application, mitigation of the effects of the development with regard to safeguarding the natural environment, protected species and habitats, the amenity of local residents, the protection of ground and surface water quality and traffic management can be achieved through the discharge of the planning conditions.”
Third Energy CEO Rasik Valand expressed gratitude to the council for the difficult decision, as well as to the company and consultants, which had spent two years working on the application.
He added that the company would have to deliver on our commitment, made to the committee and to the people of Ryedale, to undertake this operation safely and without impacting on the local environment.
“However, don’t expect to see any activities on site in the near future. We have conditions from both the planning authority and the Environment Agency to discharge. There are other consents and notifications required prior to receiving final consent from the Secretary of State. Then there is the normal commercial and project management work, such as the letting of contracts and ordering of long lead items,” he said.
"The purpose of this application is to establish if the gas seen in some samples in this hybrid sandstone shale formation can be made to flow, at what process conditions and for how long. If this flows then we will need to assess how it performs for some months before making any conclusions," he said.
Lobby group UK Onshore Oil & Gas said the council's decision corroborated the positive planning recommendation made by the Planning Officer, the approval of all Environmental permits by the Environment Agency and the fact that the well has already been approved by the local council, an independent well examiner and the UK's Health and Safety Executive and subsequently drilled successfully without impact to the environment or the local community.
The group's CEO Ken Cronin said the decision helped to dispel many of the misleading claims that have been made about this application, as well as the process of hydraulic fracturing more generally: "We look forward to Third Energy being able to conduct a test to see how much gas is under this area of North Yorkshire to power and heat homes and businesses.”
Fellow onshore producer Cuadrilla is still waiting for the results of its appeal against Lancashire County Council, which last June rejected its applications for hydraulic fracturing, overruling the recommendations of the council's own planning committee.
William Powell